EA-6B Prowler VAQ-141 Shadowhawks 1/72 Hasegawa 00893

EA-6B Prowler "VAQ-141 Shadowhawks" 
1/72   Aircrafts, Planes
Hasegawa 00893

Manufacturer: Hasegawa
Scale: 1/72
Material: Plastic
Paint: Unpainted, Unassembled, Kit do not contain paints and glue.
Condition: New in Box

The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, mid-wing electronic warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruderairframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United States Marine Corps in the 1960s. Development on the more advanced EA-6B began in in 1966. An EA-6B aircrew consists of one pilot and three Electronic Countermeasures Officers, though it is not uncommon for only two ECMOs to be used on missions. It is capable of carrying and firing anti-radiation missiles (ARM), such as the AGM-88 HARM missile.

Prowler has been in service with the U.S. Armed Forces since 1971. It has carried out numerous missions for jamming enemy radar systems, and in gathering radio intelligence on those and other enemy air defense systems. From the 1998 retirement of the United States Air Force EF-111 Raven electronic warfare aircraft, the EA-6B was the only dedicated electronic warfare plane available for missions by the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the United States Air Force until the fielding of the Navy's EA-18G Growler in 2009.The substantially redesigned and more advanced EA-6B was developed beginning in 1966 as a replacement for EKA-3B Skywarriors for the U.S. Navy. The forward fuselage was lengthened to create a rear area for a larger four-seat cockpit, and an antenna fairing was added to the tip of its vertical stabilizer.The Prowler first flew on 25 May 1968, and it entered service on aircraft carriers in July 1971.The EA-6B Prowler is powered by two turbojet engines, and it is capable of high subsonic speeds. Due to its extensive electronic warfare operations, and the aircraft's age (produced until 1991), the EA-6B is a high-maintenance aircraft, and it also has undergone more frequent equipment upgrades than any other aircraft in the Navy or Marine Corps.Although designed as an electronic warfare and command-and-control aircraft for air strike missions, the EA-6B is also capable of attacking some surface targets on its own, in particular enemy radar sites and surface-to-air missile launchers. In addition, the EA-6B is capable of gatheringelectronic signals intelligence.

The EA-6B Prowler has been continually upgraded over the years. The first of which was named "expanded capability" (EXCAP) beginning in 1973. Then came "improved capability" (ICAP) in 1976 and ICAP II in 1980. The ICAP II upgrade provided the EA-6B with the capability of firing Shrike missiles and AGM-88 HARM missiles.The Advanced Capability EA-6B Prowler (ADVCAP) was a development program initiated to improve the flying qualities of the EA-6B and to upgrade the avionics and electronic warfare systems. The intention was to modify all EA-6Bs into the ADVCAP configuration, however the program was removed from the Fiscal Year 1995 budget due to financial pressure from competingDepartment of Defense acquisition programs.

The ADVCAP development program was initiated in the late 1980s and was broken into three distinct phases: Full-Scale Development (FSD), Vehicle Enhancement Program (VEP) and the Avionics Improvement Program (AIP).

FSD served primarily to evaluate the new AN/ALQ-149 Electronic Warfare System. The program utilized a slightly modified EA-6B to house the new system.

The VEP added numerous changes to the aircraft to address deficiencies with the original EA-6B flying qualities, particularly lateral-directional problems that hampered recovery from out-of-control flight. Bureau Number 158542 was used. Changes included:

• Leading edge strakes (to improve directional stability)
• Fin pod extension (to improve directional stability)
• Ailerons (to improve slow speed lateral control)
• Re-contoured leading edge slats and trailing edge flaps (to compensate for an increase in gross weight)
• Two additional wing stations on the outer wing panel (for jamming pods only)
• New J52-P-409 engines (increased thrust by 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) per engine)
• New digital Standard Automatic Flight Control System (SAFCS)

  EA-6B Prowler
  A U.S. Navy EA-6B Prowler
  Role	Electronic warfare/Attack aircraft
  Manufacturer	Grumman Northrop Grumman